the brackishwater fisheries with fishing activities in creeks and
estuaries where the freshwater flowing down the rivers mixes with salt
water moving up with high tide; and

the artisanal inshore fisheries with fishermen operating in waters of
less than 40 m depth.

The brackishwater sector consisting of estuaries, beach ridges,
intertidal mangrove swamps, intersecting rivers and numerous winding saline
creeks, is an important component of the artisanal fisheries. However, this
sector appears to have adequate fishing intensity and its fish catches might
not significantly increase with more fishing innovations. But the
productivity of the brackishwater fisheries might slightly increase through
proper aquaculture practices. Fishing operations in the brackiswater area are
conducted from small dugout canoes.

The coastal inshore artisanal fishery is mainly confined in waters of
less than 40 m depth. This fishery employs large motorized “Ghana-type”
canoes which are more durable on this surf-beaten coast.

The available data indicate that, at present, about 19% of the total
national coastal inshore canoes are motorized. During the dry season
(October-May) the small dug-out canoes mainly operate inside the estuaries and
creeks whereas the motorized canoes fish in the open sea. The rainy season
with storms extends from May to September and the rough sea conditions
restrict fishing operations of canoe fishermen in the open sea. Hence a
number of motorized canoes resort to fishing in the coastal lagoons, creeks,
and also in the bar-built and lagoon-like estuaries. In these circumstances,
the coastal shallow waters have a high fishing effort during the rainy season.
The evolution of the Nigerian artisanal fishery based on Ssentongo, Ajayi and
Ukpe (1983) is shown in Table 4.

The Nigerian multispecies demersal stocks are exploited with a wide
variety of artisanal gears: set gillnets, beach seines, large meshed shark
drift nets, hooks on longline/handlines and various traps.

Table 4
Evolution of the artisanal and coastal inshore (Inland
brackishwater and marine) canoe fishery over the
period 1971–84 (based on records of the
Federal Department of Fisheries)

Year

No of non-motorized canoes

No of motorized canoes

Total No of canoes

%motorization

1971

90 923

4 204

95 127

4.42

1972

90 523

5 364

95 877

5.59

1973

91 732

6 224

97 956

6.35

1974

93 328

7 850

101 178

7.76

1975

91 951

8 240

100 191

8.22

1976

122 633

11 704

134 337

8.71

1977

125 256

12 187

137 443

8.87

1978

128 129

10 117

138 246

7.32

1979

121 218

12 187

133 405

9.14

1980

120 518

13 205

133 723

9.87

1981

101 430

18 712

120 142

15.57

1982

85 656

19 583

105 239

18.61

1983

109 390

20 165

129 555

15.56

1984

89 237

20 401

109 638

18.61

It is apparent that the non-motorized canoes operate mostly in the
creeks, estuaries and coastal lagoons. But there is no reliable factor for
allocating the non-motorized canoes by coastal State or by estuary, creeks and
lagoon. Therefore, there is a need for conducting a fishery survey of coastal
lagoons, estuaries and creeks to establish the structure of the artisanal
brackishwater and inshore fisheries. Although there is no adequate
information on number of canoes and fishermen operating in the brackishwater
area, past studies on productivity and catch rates from experimedntal fishing
appear to indicate greater abundance of estuarine and creek fish species in
the coastal that this sectkor has a higher concentration of brackishwater
fishermen and small dugout canoes, as well as fish stocks inhabiting the
brackishwater and marine ecological sectors.

The creeks. Castnets and also set and drift gillnets are dominant in the
creek fishery. The creek fisherman also employ hooks and various types of
traps, e.g., the screen in which fish and shrimps are trapped on the ebb tide.

The estuaries. The fishing gears used in the estuaries are similar to
those employed in the creeks. But, larger gillnets and fixed gear for
harvesting fish and shrimps predominate in estuarine areas, whereas the
screens and trigger-hooks are missing in the creeks.

Offshore waters. The sea fishermen mainly use bonga driftnets, castnets,
large set gillnets, shark nets and hooks on longlines. There is interaction
between the gears used by the inshore artisanal fishermen and the industrial
fleets, in the sense that they exploit the same species.

The basic elements of artisanal fisheries in the brackishwater and
coastal inshore areas are illustrated in Table 5 and are based on the 1976
statistical frame survey and Kelly (1982).

Table 5
Structure of the artisanal fisheries in the brackishwater
and coastal inshore areas in 1976. Based on Bazigos
(personal communication), anad also on the sectorial
length of the coastline estimated by kelly (1982)

The Nigerian coastline is dotted with many fishing villages of variable
size, according to the number of fishing units (canoes) and number of
fishermen. Though many of the fishing villages have been located during
previous catch assessment surveys, it is still difficult to collect fish
catches and other types of data from some of them because of extremely
difficult road and water transport links. This factor introduces biases in
the estimation of total national marine catches and fish production magnitudes
of various coastal States. However, there has been some improvement in the
sampling coverage of major fishing villages along the coast. It appears that
the coastal sector between the estuaries of the Sombreiro River and Cross
River and also the coastal area between the Forcados River and Badagri/Lagos
is adequately sampled. But fishing settlements in the sector between the
Ramos and San Bartholomeo Rivers do not appear to be adequately surveyed.
Yet, this sector has fairly good fishing grounds for bonga (Ethmalosa
fimbriata), snapper (Lutjanus spp.), barracuda (Sphyraena spp.), threadfin
(Polynemidae) and jacks (Carangidae) in the dry season. The same coastal
sector is also famous for the shrimp and prawn fishery, particularly around
the mouth of the Ramos River.

Surveys of a number of fishing villages between August 1980 and March
1985 have enabled the identification of some coastal settlements with a
significant concentration of artisanal fishing effort in the coastal (marine)
States. Some of the seaside villages are impressive and most of them are
located on the edge of the freshwater forest and on top of beach ridges.
During the rainy season (May-September) there is reduced fishing activity in
the seaside villages because of heavy surf and rough sea conditions.
Estuaries and major coastal settlements with good fishing prospects between
the Benin River and Cross River are shown in Figure 7.

The coastline of Lagos State runs almost in an east-west direction.
There are two long sand beaches separating the sea from the internal waterway
system formed by lagoons and creeks. The two beaches are separated by the
entrance to lagos harbour. The Lagos coastline is about 180 km long and it is
generally characterized by steep sandy beaches, offshore wave brakers and
littoral drift. The following Lagos State fishing villages are important and
should have continuous catch and fishing effort monitoring.

Lekki

Lekki is a fairly large fishing village situated about 70 km east of
Lagos harbour. The settlement is accessible via the Lekki Lagoon throughout
the year. It has one of the most active fishing communities in Lagos State.

Akodo-waya

Akodo-waya is located 60 km east of Lagos harbour. It is a large fishing
village with active fishermen. The settlement is accessible by boat all the
year round and by road during the dry season.

Epese

Epese is a medium-sized fishing village located in the Maroko area east
of Lagos harbour. The sandy beach shows signs of erosion. There is an active
motorized canoe fishery and beach seine fishing.

Yovoyan

Yovoyan is an active fishing settlement located on the shoreline about 3
km west of Badagry. The fishing community at Yovoyan is very receptive to the
concept of fishermen's cooperatives.

Brackishwater fishing settlements in Lagos State

There is a fairly large number of fishermen in the following
brackishwater settlements in Lagos State: Badore, Agbowa Ikosi and Epe. The
lagoon fishermen do not interact with those operating in the open sea, but
they make modest catches in brackishwater areas. Hence, also these catches
need continuous monitoring.

The Ogun coastline is about 15 km and runs in an east-west direction.
The open sea is separated from the internal waterway system by a sand spit
with a width ranging from 3 to6 km. The fishing activity in the following
Ogun settlements should be monitored continuously.

Ode-Omi

Ode-Omi is situated on Omu Creek at the southern end of Lagos Lagoon. It
is a medium-sized fishing village with modest signs of fishing activity.
Ode-Omi is located on the creek side and is connected to Igbekki on the Ogun
open coastline by a 3 to 5 km bush track.

Igbekki

Igbekki fishing settlement is located on the open coastline. There is a
spit which is gradually extending into the sea. Igbekki is a fairly large
coastal settlement, with an active fishing community, whose catch should be
monitored continuously.

Iwopin

Iwopin is a medium-sized brackishwater fishing settlement located on the
Ogun Lagoon. It is one of the centres for National Accelerated Fisheries
Production Project (NAFPP). It has an adequate fisheries infrastructure but
shows signs of declining fishing activity. Probably due to overfishing the
Ogun Lagoon.

The Ondo State coastline is about 80 km and runs in a northwest to
southeast direction. The low-lying bank separating the inland waterway from
the sea is muddy and liable to flooding. There is considerable erosion near
the Ondo/Bendel State border. In these circumstances, some coastal villages
of the Mahin flats are temporary. But, there are several coastal villages
which are famous for bonga fishing along the Ondo State coastline. The canoe
fishermen also make good catches of demersal fish.

Orioke-Iwamimo

Orioke-Iwamimo is a fairly large fishing village situated on a bank of a
canal system (internal waterway) about 50km from Igbokoda (an inland town)
where a fishing terminal is being constructed. The canal system (Bendel
State). Orioke-Iwamimo is also located northwest of Aiyetoro.

Difficult conditions of landing large fish catches at this site might
force some fishermen to dispose of some of their catches at sea. In these
cicumstances, the reported nominal catches for Ondo State are possibly biased.

Aiyetoro

Aiyetoro is a large prosperous fishing village situated on a mud bank.
It has an active fishing community and a resident population of 3 000-4 000
people. This settlement is located at about 35 km south of Igbokoda.

Ajegunle

Ajegnule is a medium-sized fishing village located east of Aiyetoro.
There are about 100 canoes, of which 25 percent are motorized. Membership of
the fishermen cooperative society is put at about 40 people.

Other promising fishing villages

There are other important fishing settlements in Ondo State whose catch
should be monitored, e.g., Elepete, Ilowo-Bijimi, Araromi, Zione Pepe and
Ogogoro.

The Bendel State coastline is about 96km long (Kelly, 1982). There are
three main estuaries: Benin River estuary, about 3km wide at the mouth, with
a minimum depth of 2.1 m in the approaches; Escravos River estuary about
2.5 km wide at the mouth, with a minimum depth of 3 m in the approaches, and
Forcados River estuary, about 5km wide at the mouth, with a minimum depth of
3 m in the approaches. The coastal area is characterized by an intricate
network of creeks. The Bendel State estuaries are reknowned for their shrimp
and prawn fishery. The following fishing villages were visited several times
between 1980 and 1985.

Oghere and Orere (Benin River estuary)

Oghere (a medium-sized fishing village) is located on the western bank of
the Benin River and about 50 km downstream of Koko. There is a fairly active
fishing community at Oghere, with about 100 canoes, of which about 30 percent
are motorized.

On the opposite side of Oghere is located Orere which is also a
medium-sized village whose fishermen concentrate on crayfish harvesting, using
traps. The presence of other types of fishing gears is negligible.

Ogidigben (Escravos River estuary)

Ogidigben is a medium-sized fishing village with more than 70 active
fishing canoes. The fishermen mainly exploit crayfish using baskets on poles.
The demersal species fishery is of secondary importance at this fishing
settlement.

Beniboye (Forcados River estuary)

Beniboye is a large, rapidly developing fishing settlement on the eastern
side of the Forcados estuary. Most fishermen at Beniboye fish for bonga,
using small meshed monofilament gillnets. But there are some fishermen using
bottom set gillnets to catch marine catfishes, shinynose, soles and croakers.
Considering the fishing activity throughout the year, the bonga fishery is
less seasonal at Beniboye than anywhere else on the Nigerian coast. There are
more than 200 active medium and large fishing canoes.

The coastline of Rivers State is about 300km (Kelly, 1982), extending
from the Ramos to the Imo River. The coastline forms a quadrant of a circle
between the Ramos and Brass Rivers but east of Brass River, the coastline runs
north of east to the estuary of the Imo River. Several fishing settlements
were surveyed between 1980 and 1982.

Oyorokoto (Andoni River estuary)

On the basis of number and size of canoes, fishing gears and fishermen
household units, the artisanal fishermen of Oyorokoto are undergoing
accelerated development. There are more than 250 canoes of variable sizes:

small ones of less than 7 m length,

medium-sized ones ranging 7 to 9m long, and

large ones of more than 9 m length.

The target species of an active pelagic fishery is bonga (Ethmalosa
fimbriata). Besides, there is a modest demersal species fishery for croakers,
groupers and threadfins.

Elembekinkiri (New Calabar River estuary)

Elembekinkiri is a fishing village of medium size located at the western
side of the estuary of the New Calabar River, about 8 km upstream from the
Gight of Bonny. This fishing settlement is liable to flooding after the rainy
season. Although fishing activity appears to be declining, the local
fishermen display a high degree of cooperative spirit. The fact that the
depth of the channel at Elembekinkiri is about 8 m deep, while at the mouth
the minimum depth is about 4.5 m (reference Admiralty Chart 1863), is of vital
implication for fishing operations and navigation.

Buoybobokiri and “Gold coast”(Sombreiro River estuary)

Buoybobokiri is a small fishing village at the confluence of Heynes Creek
and the Sombreiro River. The fishermen at this village exploit Shad (Ilisha
africana) using drift and set gillnets. Their canoes are small and less than
7 m long.

“Gold Coast” is a medium-sized fishing village located on the coast east
of the Sombreiro estuary. Because of strong winds and choppy seas, the
artisanal fishermen operating at sea must use large canoes.

Brass (Brass River)

Brass is a medium-sized fishing village located at the eastern bank of
Brass River estuary. This fishing village used to be more important for
artisanal fishing activities during the 1950s and 1960s. But due to the
development of the oil industry around Brass town, many fishermen left fishing
and took up “more promosing” jobs with the oil companies.

The Akwamobugo creek 6.4 km above Brass connects Brass and St. Nicholas
River whereas Akassa creek affords communication between Brass and Nun rivers.
Brass River is formed by two branches of Niger River (Ekole creek and Nembe
creek). The coastal sector between Nun River and St. Nicholas River which
forms the axis of the Niger has several coastal villages with good fishing
prospects. But the village are very remote from large urban centres and so
cannot be easily sampled for catch, effort and other fishery data.

Other fishing settlements in Rivers State

There are several other important fishing settlements in Rivers State,
which are not often visited because of their distant location from Port
Harcourt, Degema and Yenoga. The following fishing villages should have
constant catch monitoring: Aggi(Ramos River), Ezeoutu (Pennington River),
Forupa (Middletown River), Kulama (Kulama River), Fishtown (Fishtown River),
Sangana (Sangana River), Akasa (Nun River), and Odiama (St. Nicholas River).
Without a proper account of fishing activities for the larger portion of the
Niger Delta area (i.e., the sector between the Ramos and San Bartholomeo
Rivers), fishery statistics for Rivers State sector would still be biased.

The coastline of Cross River is about 105 km and it runs north of east
from Imo River to Cross River, which is navigable upstream to Calabar about
55 km from the sea. The somewhat lowlying surf-beaten coastline area is
delimited by hills at only about 10 km from the coast. Hence, Cross River
State has a more limited mangrove swamp area and brackishwater area, excluding
the Cross River estuary. There are several coastal fishing settlements with
adequate prospects for fishery development.

Iko and Okoroete (off the Imo River estuary)

Iko and Okoroete are adjacent village located on a narrow sandspit which
separates former on the internal creek from latter on the open sea. The creek
system is navigable to the Imo River estuary. The coastline at Okoroete is
surf beaten, making the narrow sandspit unstable. Both fishing villages have
creek and sea fishermen using monofilament bonga nets and multifilament
gillnets for the demersal species fishery.

Ibuno (Kwa Ibo River estuary)

Ibuno is one of the most impressive fishing settlements along the
Nigerian coast. It is located on the eastern side of the Kwa Ibo River, about
3 km upstream from the river mouth and about 16 km from Eket. To the right of

the jetty is a large landing site for the mixed demersal species fishery,
whereas the landing site for the pelagic species fishery is on the left side
of the jetty.

Other fishing settlements in Cross River State

There are several other important fishing villages which require constant
catch and fishing effort monitoring:

Ebughu located on the bank of Douglas Creek of the Calabar River near
Oron;

Kampa located on Kwa Ibo Creek off the Kwa Ibo River;

Uta-Ewa on the western bank of a creek, about 12 km from the mouth of
the Imo River near Ikot Abasi;

Utan Brama, a large fishing village on the western bank of Cross River
estuary;

Mbe Ndoro, a medium-sized fishing village on the western side of Cross
River estuary; and

several smaller but important fishing villages in Cross River State
(e.g., Ikang, Abana, Ibuot-Itan, Esek-Ewang, Ibaka and Mkpang-Utong).

The industrial fishing fleets exploiting the demersal resources of
Nigeria consist of the inshore ice trawlers, freezer trawlers and shrimpers.
The industrial fleet has expanded rapidly since the early 1970s. The number
of inshore trawlers increased from 13 in 1971 to 29 in 1976 and to 52 in 1983.
The Polish ice trawlers with an average length of about 13 m make short trips
of about 6 days. The industrial fleet includes several freezer trawlers of
private companies with an average length of 24 m. These make longer fishing
trips of up to 25 days.

The ice trawlers and freezer trawlers operate on the sector of the
continental shelf between Benin and Cameroon. They frequent areas with muddy
sand, sandy muds, muds and sands of depths of more than 20 m. The total
estimated continental shelf area possibly fished by artisanal fleets and
inshore trawlers is shown in Table 2.

The Nigerian shrimpers mainly operate in the coastal sector extending
from the mouth of Benin River, to the Cross River estuary. The shrimp
trawlers appear to make higher catches around estuaries with greater flows.
The sectors of the continental shelf mainly frequented by shrimpers is given
in Table 6.

The topography of the coast is such that the industrial fisheries are
concentrated in areas where access to the sea is easier: Lagos, Warri,
Sapele, port Harcourt and Calabar/Cross River estuary.

At Lagos the industrial fleet is dispersed at number of locations along
the Lagos channel and Porto Novo creek. Some fishing companies such as
Obelawo Farcha, Ibru and Intercontinental have quay and shore facilities for
ice plants, cold stores, marketing and repair services. However, most
trawlers are based at Ijora which is now getting congested.

The Ogharefe site near Warri (Bendel State) belongs to the Nigerian
National Shrimp Company. It is located at about 65 km from the estuary of the
Benin River and trawlers have to steam for 8 hours to reach the sea. The
Rivers State Gulf Company is based at the Amadi and Kalabi creeks near Port
Harcourt situated 60 km inland and with access to the sea by the Bonny River
waterway.

Table 6
Estimated areas of the continental shelf which are frequented
by shrimpers, but excluding the coastal sector
comprised of Lagos, Ogun and Ondo States
(based on Ssentongo, Ajayi and Ukpe, 1983)

Coastal States

Continental shelf area km2

0 – 18 m

18 – 91 m

Total area

Cross River State

2 810

3 590

6 400

Rivers State

5 200

10 890

16 090

Bendel State

1 200

1 490

2 670

Total

9 210

15 950

25 160

Additionally, there are fishery terminals at Igbokoda (Ondo State), Port
Harcourt (Rivers State) and Ebughu (Cross River State). The three terminals
have the capacity to handle about 40 t of fish and 5 t of shrimps per day.
There are also facilities for blast freezing about 18 t of fish per hour and
plate freezing 450 kg/h at a temperature of -30°c.

The three fishery terminals are of great value, but the maintenance of
these existing facilities will require continued commitment of Government to
provide the necessary financial support for up-grading the socio-economic
status of fishermen.

Several freezer trawlers owned by a number of private companies (e.g.,
Intercontinental and Obelawo Farcha) operate from Lagos and can make fishing
trips of up to 25 days. Sometimes, the freezer trawlers operate very far from
Lagos (e.g., off the Cross River estuary). These vessels which have an
average weight of 136 t, catch about 2 t of fish per day.

Under the Fourth National Development plan (1981–85), the Federal
Government purchased 45 Polish small inshore trawlers (135 m long). These ice
trawlers were supplied to canoe fishermen cooperatives under the 50% subsidy
scheme. The ice trawlers (“Croaker”) make short trips of about 6 days. At
present their average daily catch rate is rather low, but it is understood
that such a vessel can still possibly make N 1 000 (about US$ 1 200) per day
from a daily catch of about 400 kg/vessel. There has obviously been a sudden
decline in catch rates of the ice trawlers because in 1982 the catch per day
was higher (800–1 300 kg/vessel).

Considering licence records of the Inspectorate Unit of the Federal
Department of Fisheries (FDF), many inshore trawlers operate in Nigerian
waters. It is possible that these vessels do not fish throughout the year.
It is also almost certain that all of them do not operate at the same time.
But these vessels have in more recent years exploited more and more the same
inshore grounds which are fished by canoe fishermen. There is a basis for us
to believe that the combined effort of canoes, trawlers and shrimpers is
becoming excessive. The evolution of canoe and industrial fisheries is
illustrated in Table 7. The composition and vessel characteristics of some
trawlers licensed to fish in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) are shown in
Table 8. Additionally, the composition of inshore shrimpers operating in
Nigerian waters is given in Table 9.

Table 7
Estimated number of canoes, trawlers and shrimpers operating
in brackish water and open sea during the period 1971–84
(based on records of the Federal Department of Fisheries, Lagos)